Calling Nigerian Dwarf Goat Owners!

[Bird_Lover_17]

Hey! So I own Nigerian Dwarf Goats and I was wondering if anyone else did! If you do, feel free to talk about your goats!

I own 2 goats, and they make my day. Everyday, they make me smile! I have a Cou Blanc named Sequoia and a Medium buckskin named Birch. (that's their colorations).

I had goats ever since I was 10, and when I was 10, I showed them at a county fair. Now my goats are just pets.

I love baby goats AND winter goats (when they are all fluffed up)

 

[AltonaAcres]

I do! A chocolate and white one with blue eyes named Lyla.

 

[Bird_Lover_17]

I do! A chocolate and white one with blue eyes named Lyla.

Aww, she sounds super cute! When did you get her?

 

[Callender Girl]

I have had miniature goats for more than 13 years. My first four were Nigerian/African pygmy crosses, including my very first, a bottle baby who lived in the house for months. Rocky bonded with the dogs and was shocked when he had to move outdoors and live with another goat. In fact, he ran away from his new pen mate! And yelled loudly and piteously. Then, he realized he could be the boss of this other creature, and life was good.

Rocky, Lili, Addie and Gordy have passed on. I now have five goats, three lovely girls and two belligerent wethers.

I can't think of anything in the world that is cuter than a baby goat!

 

[RebelEgger]

I don’t have any yet, but we plan on getting some in a few years. I LOVE goats and have wanted them for years but we won’t have the space for them until next year. We already have their names picked out (have for years!) Norbert and Hobart so when the time comes I will be asking LOTS of questions!!! Other than the joy they bring what are the pros and cons to owning them? And why this breed (my first choice) vs others?

 

[Callender Girl]

The joys include the obvious -- they are incredibly cute and totally personable! They don't require as much space or feed as full-sized goats and the blue-eyed Nigerians are gorgeous.

The biggest con is their unfailing ability to escape pens that would have baffled Houdini! A goat-owning friend once suggested building the best, most secure fence possible. Then throwing a bucket of water at it. If even a drop goes through, he said, so will a goat.

Tessa, with her big beautiful blue eyes, has spent four years in a constant battle of wits with me. She usually wins. I have made multiple adjustments and modifications to fencing, housing, cut down trees, anything I can think of to keep her inside the pen with the others. I am not sure I will ever win this war.

 

[RebelEgger]

@Callender Girl i have heard this about them - their ability to get out of any enclosure. My husband says he doesn’t care about then escaping as long as he doesn’t find hoof marks on his truck. He has already threatened our goats that don’t even exist with the stew pot if that happens lol

I love them so much and I can’t wait to have them. We have a ‘zoo’ here that used to have baby goats by the dozen and I carried one around my whole visit there one day. It was happy as a clam all cuddled up. I even put it under my sweater at one point and was like it could totally walk out right now and no one would know’. Needless to say the friends I was with at the time refused to let me get in the car if I carried out the escape plan lol

 

[Callender Girl]

You will be a good goat mom. My Rocky came from a friend who owned a traveling petting zoo. Rocky's mom died a couple of days after he was born, and Dave couldn't afford the time and care required to bottle feed a baby every few hours.

It was easiest to keep Rocks in the house while he was bottle feeding, and he became my puppy-goat. He hung out with my dogs, and when the dogs went outside, he went out. While I often had a clue that he was going to pee and could whisk him out the door, goat poop seems to be a complete surprise to its producer.

On the other hand, after years of dealing with dog poop -- I was the hospice home for a breed rescue -- I was not fazed at all by tiny, much-less-smelly goat berries.

While goats don't really eat everything, they are tempted to nibble at things to see if they are edible. I have a photo essay of Rocky in places in the house, doing things he shouldn't have -- nibbling on the cords for the window blinds, the toilet paper roll, my then-partner's airline reservation confirmation. But his cuteness protected him from any repercussions.

I am glad to hear that you are NOT a "kid"napper! But I completely understand the temptation

 

[RebelEgger]

Thank you, I hope to be a good goat mom someday. I doubt on our cats, dogs and chickens and look forward to adding goats to the list.

A puppy goat is exactly what I would like. They will definitely be in the house for the first little bit. I can’t wait for goat shenanigans. Rocky sounds like a ham.

I already have a Pinterest list of goat barn ideas, enclosures and entertainment. We would also like to have a donkey to protect them and the chickens, but more research would need to be done on that. Right now it’s just talk.

And I must clarify my husband would not actually put them in a stew pot, he’s as big a softie as I am!

 

[Lovem all]

I have 9 goats! 6 are the dwarfs and I love them! the best baby makers and milking mamas